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I have quite a few cards that have the ability to create creature tokens when they're played or their ability is activated. The only problem is I don't have the specific token for each one, but I have a handful of other creature tokens.

Can I substitute creature token Y for creature token X? For example, if the ability allows creating two 2/2 Black Zombies, but I don't have any Black Zombie tokens, could I use, say, a Green Wolf and a White Human to substitute as placeholders? I don't see why not since the tokens are pretty much empty objects that are filled in whenever they're brought into battle.

But there are some things to be careful of however. (mostly applies to competitive scenarios)

If you have many of the same token, Avoid using dice to represent the quantity. If you do this, you'll have issues differentiating tapped tokens from untapped, and tokens with summoning sickness from tokens without.

If a card produces a token, avoid turning that card face-down for your token. If that card is in your graveyard, your graveyard is where it belongs. find another object to represent your token with.

To Summarize: You can represent your tokens in whatever manner you want, so long as they're clearly and accurately represented.

As a note, I would avoid using other creature tokens face-up to represent your token creatures, because that creates the possibility for confusion, especially if e.g. your opponent somehow manages to create a White Human token.
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Steven StadnickiJan 14 '13 at 18:29

(Also, I'd encourage avoiding using dice for the tokens themselves since it's so hard to distinguish tapped from untapped state on dice. Otherwise, though, an excellent answer all about.)
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Steven StadnickiJan 14 '13 at 18:29

Coins don't work since you can't tap them. Dice don't work well either.
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ikegamiJan 14 '13 at 20:46

I think this answer is the best - it gets to the core of the issue: clarity. You have to make your board state as clear and simple as reasonably possible. If you had a deck that generates lots of soldier tokens and saproling tokens, it would be very wise to have either a set of white and a set of green dice, or a good supply of token cards. It would be a poor decision to have a lot of the same color dice.
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corsiKaJan 14 '13 at 18:38

You don't need to use those pre-printed tokens, they are only a convenience. You can use a scrap of paper with the stats written on it, an upside down magic card, anything at all really. It only gets complicated if you have multiple different types of tokens in play at once, then you will want to make sure you can distinguish them.

You could use a normal pack of playing cards, with each suit being a different type, for example.

If you start generating large number of tokens (eg more than 5) its probably easiest to use a small piece of paper with a name written on it and a dice to show how many of those tokens there are. Then if you attack with some of them, make a new card with the same name with a dice and use one to represent tapped and one untapped tokens of that name.